Banks Plan to Charge a Monthly Fee to Use a Debit Card

As of October 1st, banks will be able to charge only 21¢ per transaction for debit cards, due to the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment. That’s a completely reasonable charge for sending a few bits of data over the wires. But charging comically large percentages for transactions is how banks pay for the mortgages on those skyscrapers, so they’re just going to charge you, instead.

Bank of America will begin charging $5/month to use a debit card early next year, and Wells Fargo is already testing a $3/month fee in some states. In other words, debit card use is going to get a lot more expensive for consumers.

Price tags on everything else may rise, too, since Visa and Mastercard (not banks, so not bound by the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment) plan to quadruple their merchant transaction fee.

Sam Glover is a lawyer and the founder and Editor in Chief of Lawyerist.com. He also works with lawyers on motion practice and appeals, and is President of the board of directors of HOME Line, a nonprofit Minnesota tenant advocacy organization.